In the Loop

JB Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel chain and a venture capitalist, reported over the weekend that he’s giving another $15 million of his own money to his campaign for Illinois governor. That contribution brings to $161.5 million what the Democrat has given his own campaign. That tops Republican Meg Whitman’s $144 million that she put into her own losing campaign for California governor in 2010.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel delivered his final budget address Wednesday, where he focused more on his legacy than on dollars and cents.  Meanwhile, Chance the Rapper put his clout with millennials behind Amara Enyia, a relative unknown in the 2019 race.  And Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker is facing a racial discrimination lawsuit from current and former campaign workers.   Morning Shift breaks down those stories and more on the Friday News Roundup with guest host and WBEZ reporter Odette Yousef.

Advocates say murders of transgender women have been on the rise nationwide in the last five years. At least 22 trans women have been murdered so far in 2018, according to the Human Rights Campaign, and the majority have been trans women of color. Tracking the exact number of deaths can be difficult. Police investigations often identify trans victims by names they no longer use. Chicago has seen two trans women murdered in the last five weeks: Dejanay Stanton, 24, and 31-year-old Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier. A memorial service for Carter Frazier will be held Saturday. Sarah McBride is the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign. She joined the Morning Shift to talk about violence against trans women, and the discrimination the trans community faces in their daily lives.

If every state worker entitled to a pension retired today, Illinois would need to pay out a total of $130 billion in pension payments — money that the state says it doesn’t have. Three weeks ahead of Election Day, Laurence Msall, president of the independent research organization Civic Federation, joined Morning Shift to explain the state’s pension crisis — and how the gubernatorial candidates plan to fix it. If every state worker entitled to a pension retired today, Illinois would need to pay out a total of $130 billion in pension payments — money that the state says it doesn’t have. Three weeks ahead of Election Day, Laurence Msall, president of the independent research organization Civic Federation, joined Morning Shift to explain the state’s pension crisis — and how the gubernatorial candidates plan to fix it.

After years of mounting debt and repeated failures to re-invigorate its brand, Hoffman Estates-based Sears filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy early Monday. Its CEO is stepping down, and the company said it would close an additional 142 stores by the end of the year. Sears was one of the most successful American retailers of the 20th century, and for decades, it managed to innovate — growing its business as it morphed from a shopping catalog to downtown department stores to the anchor of suburban malls. But in more recent years, the Sears brand lost its sheen, and it did not keep pace to compete with big box stores and online retailers. Morning Shift discusses what went wrong, what chapter 11 means, and what the future could hold for Sears.

It was a big week for political news. The Cook County budget plan was released with county board president Toni Preckwinkle pointing to her tenure to support her run for Chicago mayor. Reporting in the Chicago Tribune shed light on the finances of the two very rich men running for governor of Illinois. And those candidates — Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and his Democratic challenger J.B. Pritzker — met in Quincy, Illinois Thursday night for their third and final debate before the November 6th election. During the debate, Rauner apologized for the 14 legionnaires deaths at the Quincy veterans home that happened on his watch for the first time.  "To the families here tonight and the families across Illinois who lost loved ones, I am sorry for your loss. It is deeply painful, and I pledge to you that we will continue to do everything we can to keep our veterans safe," he said.  In our Friday News Roundup, we break down those stories and give you the latest on a potential bankruptcy filing by Hoffman Estates-based Sears, the fallout from the murder trial of Jason Van Dyke and why it's so hard to get information through the state of Illinois's Freedom Of Information Act.

Monring Shift takes a look at a new Trump Administration proposal  that takes aim at immigrants who use public benefits.

Where does new U-S Supreme Court Justice stand on U-S immigration law and policy? An immigration attorney shares her thoughts.

Musicians Linda Gail Lewis and Robbie Fulks talk about  making their first full length album together: Wild! Wild! Wild!

Voters head to the polls in just over a month and there are a lot of issues to consider- from health care and the economy to taxes and education. With that in mind, we've got a series of conversations we’re calling “Illinois: The Bottom Line. It’s based on the idea that the only way we can create a brighter future for both the state...and individual Illinoisans...is by addressing the bottom line. As part of the series, we’ll unravel the state’s complicated finances. And we’ll talk pocketbook issues like jobs and housing and for this episode, healthcare.